Austria keen to take workers, invest in Bangladesh

Austria has offered to recruit skilled workers from Bangladesh and invest in green energy, particularly wind and waste2energy sectors in the South Asian country. Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg conveyed it to Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud at a bilateral meeting on Monday in Vienna.

The two foreign ministers have agreed to deepen bilateral relations in the fields of economic cooperation, trade and investment, migration and mobility, climate change, waste management, as well as post-graduation trade facilities for Bangladesh.

They also agreed that there are ample opportunities to increase bilateral trade and Austrian investment in Bangladesh. Both the ministers have underscored the importance of exchange of trade missions as well as early signing of the proposed agreement on the avoidance of double taxation in this regard.

Schallenberg has agreed to send a trade mission to Bangladesh this autumn and explore opening a trade office in Dhaka.

The two ministers also agreed to conclude a MoU on migration and mobility soon to kickstart skill mobility from Bangladesh to Austria. In particular, Hasan Mahmud stressed that ICT professionals from Bangladesh can contribute to Austrian companies.

Foreign minister Mahmud and Austrian foreign minister Schallenberg have also shared their views on regional developments in South Asia and Europe and beyond, including the situations in Myanmar, Middle East and the Indo-Pacific.

The foreign minister also urged the international community to help repatriate the forcibly displaced  Rohingyas from Bangladesh to their homeland Myanmar for peace and stability in the region and beyond.